Our Team

Dr Ik Shin Chin has joined the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine as a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology in early phase trials at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. She underwent her medical oncology training in the West Midlands. She received funding to pursue her PhD under the Cancer Research UK Clinical PhD Fellowship with the University of Birmingham in 2019. She pursued an Advanced Immune and Cell therapy fellowship at the Christie’s Hospital, Manchester and worked within their ECMT team in the delivery of early phase trials.

Dr McRae is an Associate Professor at City St George’s and has been the Director of Research in the Centre for Allied Health over the last 5 years. Alongside that, she has continued her clinical practice as a Speech and Language Therapist in numerous London Teaching Hospitals. She has over 30 years’ experience working with acute adults with complex dysphagia in specialist and general critical care units and leading SLT services through innovations.

Her research has focused on optimising the multi-professional management of swallowing and communication problems in people with spinal cord injury (known as the DAISY project), a low volume but high acuity population. She has a special interest in the use of flexible nasendoscopy by SLTs to support respiratory weaning and swallowing interventions in the intensive care patient population.

Jackie has been awarded research grant funding to progress her research interests, notably the NIHR doctoral research fellowship, post-doctoral bridging fellowship and Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award.  This will help to build collaborations between London and Liverpool and support the development of a Northern Spinal Cord Injury hub that will facilitate education and enhanced practices.

She has published several papers and book chapters about the complexity of laryngeal impairments in people with spinal cord injury and the advanced role of SLTs delivering rehabilitation in intensive care and presented on this topic at conferences nationally and internationally. Jackie is a professional advisor to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, contributing to national guidance relating to clinical practice in ICU and clinical academic careers. She provides research supervision and mentorship to pre-doctoral and doctoral students, predominantly SLTs. She also delivers clinical supervision to SLTs working in intensive care environments to ensure safe and effective service delivery.

Jackie has been involved in research capacity development for allied health professionals and sits on several research funding and innovation committees to ensure there is wide representation. She has recently been involved in developing a digital platform for swallowing rehabilitation and is interested in the potential use of AI to support the role of SLT.

Dr. Risk obtained her BSc and doctorate at Liverpool University while investigating the molecular genetics of recurrent miscarriage. Her postgraduate research focussed first on identifying the cause of a familial oesophageal cancer syndrome as a mutation in an inactive iRhom protein and, after gaining Lecturer status, on the molecular biology of head and neck cancer.  Previous research has investigated the role of gene methylation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma both as a causal alteration and as a prognostic/diagnostic biomarker.

Dr Risk’s current areas of research include:

1. An investigation into the utility of infrared imaging for the early diagnosis of oral cancer. This is a  CRUK funded, multidisciplinary collaboration with Professor Peter Weightman in the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool.

2. An investigation of the mechanisms of action of iRhom2 in oesophageal and other aerodigestive tract cancers. This a collaboration with Professor David Kelsell at the Blizard Institute, London.

Dr. Risk has published 72 papers, 30 in the field of HNSCC, and has held more than £1.5m of grant money as PI, including grants from the MRC and Cancer Research UK . She has been the primary supervisor for 21 postgraduate students, teaches basic science to medical students and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

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Dr. Kate Hutcheson is a Professor and Deputy Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery with dual appointment in the Division of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She serves as Section Chief and Research Director for the Section of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Dr. Hutcheson is a certified speech-language pathologist, a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (BCS-S), and holds a Doctorate Degree in Epidemiology. She maintains an active clinical practice and research program. She has authored over 120 journal articles with funding support from the National Institutes of Health, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the MD Anderson Institutional Research Grant Award program, and the CPRIT UT Health Innovation Training Program. She is an accomplished clinician and educator who lectures nationally and internationally on radiation associated dysphagia and head and neck cancer rehabilitation.

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Michelle is a Clinical Academic Speech and Language Therapist, specialising in dysphagia (swallowing difficulties), working across the University of Liverpool and Mid Cheshire NHS Trust. She is currently undertaking an NIHR Advanced Fellowship, developing and evaluating the feasibility of a novel intervention to improve swallow function for people following head and neck cancer, in addition to working clinically as an Advanced Clinical Specialist in head and neck oncology. She is passionate about developing innovative technologies through research to improve patient outcomes.

Michelle received her undergraduate degree in Speech Pathology and Therapy from Manchester Metropolitan University (BSc (Hons): first) in 2003. She went on to complete a PhD at the University of Manchester, winning a Stroke Association postgraduate Fellowship in 2013. As part of her PhD, Michelle developed a psychometric scale to measure the impact of developing a positive therapeutic alliance in aphasia rehabilitation, which is now being translated internationally. Following her PhD, she secured an NIHR postdoctoral bridging Fellowship in 2021 and Advanced Fellowship in 2023.

Michelle has over 20 years of clinical experience in assessment and management of dysphagia and communication impairment arising from multiple aetiologies. Her clinical and research interests include: prehabilitation, outcome measurement, instrumental assessment, respiratory disorders, psychosocial adjustment and novel swallow interventions. She has presented nationally and internationally and taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She is mentor for research-active healthcare professionals and a supervisor for pre-doctoral and doctoral students.

Michelle leads the ‘Improving Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer’ research seminars at the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre. She is a mentor and research champion for The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and a steering group member of the Council of Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR).